1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a poppet valve operating system having a rocker shaft with slidably mountable rocker arms which are indexed upon the rocker shaft by means of reliefs formed in the outer cylindrical surface of the rocker shaft.
2. Disclosure Information
Many overhead valve engines utilize rocker arms for actuating cylinder poppet valves. Such rocker arms are generally either pedestal mounted or shaft mounted. Shaft mounted arms are usually slidably installed upon a cylindrical rocker shaft. Once the arms have been installed, they must be maintained in a precise axial location along the shaft to assure that proper contact is made with the valve and other actuating mechanisms such as a camshaft or push rod. Designers have devised a number of schemes for maintaining rocker arms in a desired position on a rocker shaft. These schemes usually include the use of custom spacers which are interposed between the rocker arms and the mounting pedestals. The spacers are sometimes supplemented by compression springs or other devices. Needless to say, all the devices add weight, complexity and expense. Also, the need for different spacers may lead to misbuilds of the engine cylinder heads.
It would be desirable to provide a rocker arm retention system for use with rocker shaft mounted arms which positively retains rocker arms, but nevertheless permits their disassembly for servicing.